Arizona weekly citizen., 1887-07-16
A SINGULAR CIRcUMsTASoE.

L1Ht EDDuE tLG same llGG IIe ellCt NcuN 'orlh winch rendered homeless thou ;aBds of the gentle sisterhood whose iIveF had been C0rsecrased to charity aud hOI1esss a law was passed licensing he occupation of another class cf fe- males upon the simple conditions taat each should carry 6 book c0DtG!ulnE her aumbsr md wear certain style ci l80lt.
 Most of the old tlms religious proees- slons snd paEegnts of superstition were prohibited by law, some years ago, md since Ding last administration even the Passion Play Goruerly tbe great event Of the year in the rural districts, occupying at least seven days) has been strictly forbidden, tO the great grief Of ;he Indians and the disappointment of tourists.
 The same high authority IS compeli ing the owners Ui buildings 10 paint out he portiCsl or high-hown names under which they once re!oioedf and to suosl ute something common place. more ID accordance with the spirit Ot the age. Who would not rather see pulque:iH with it's rose -Wregthed barrels, poppy iecked tsnhgrds, curtain of woven rush
 iatertwinei gith maregoids beforr .he dOcr, and picture of the owners patron saint set up among the bottles dedicated "To the Lovers Of VeEus.' tc "Ll S8ntissims Virgin de Guadalupe' pr even to La Msdre de DIas," than called "John Smiths place" or ID plain terms Hans Pertrers saloon? Though n the Mexican capitol the trans formation is almost complete, m the rural districts one still finds plenty oi pulqueriBs whose names are She lncar- nation of quaintness. saw one tbe other day whose ambiguous titie, painted m big letters across the front, IS NamE- uos al Go!fo de Mexico-"Let us go to the Gulf of NexIco:" another ls called Seven little Loves;' another "The An gle of the Annunc.ation; another "l be Holy Spirit of Hope" while hundreds are dedicated to the Mother of Christ, OF to Jesus himself, and so on through all the saints anl the calenders and all the superstltlons and porticsl notions that have taken hold of this people
 Visit this country, l repeat, before all that is antique and beautiful ID a:chitec tnre shall have been ruthiessly destroy ed by
 yANDAL PROPERTY OWNERS.
 Before all the blue-hsired and pink-eyed saints shall have been knocked down from thelr nitckes in the house. walls and bridges; before the wayside shrines, where every pssser used to kneel and cross himself. are all removed, before inc stone floors Of the ancient sanctuar- ;ss. worn into hollows by the knees Of vorshipers long gone to dust, shall have Seep replaced by fine boards and the fat-Iegged angles and no-legged cheru- bins carved upon the massive doors and outer walls shall have been dsubed with seereligious paint and whitewssh; come before the sandalled rursles and the bandsome haciendos shall have chang ed their graceful equestrian costume for stoye-pipe hats and other northern abominations.
 Ths utilitarians. with their alleged improvements, are especially hard upon antioue buildings erected during the Snanish domination. Within the last two years fully nine-tenths Of the ola convents and monasteries, (oDce the finest structures in Mexico next to the csthedrals) have been utterly ruined as to beauty of outline and harmony Of nronortiou, because the sordid purchas- gre in order to obtain large rentals, hove turned them into tenement houses, boyvl;ng alleys. gambling rooms and 5sncing halls. Thousands of the church asT have been similarly desecrsted. All ovsr Mexico from JalGpa on the Gulf cosst to Monterey near the Rio Grande ve huv our vegetables and calico, our c;osrettos and groceries over @ make